Colonial Day

Colonial Day will be on Wednesday, December 17th, 2014! Please have your child wear something that reflects Colonial dress. All activities that day will revolve around the colonies!

Please let me know if you are interested in helping out with an activity that day. Also, we would love donations of feather quills and liquid ink. These should be available from craft stores.

It should be a very fun day!!!

Colonial Project

Students in Mrs. Gordon's Social Studies class has been asked to complete a project on the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and/or Southern colonies. Students were given a choice board to choose which project he or she would like to complete. Students will be given time in class to work on the project, but the project should be completed by Wednesday, December 17th. Your child will present to the class on that day as part of Colonial Day.

Mythology Project

In Reading, we have been working on a Mythology project. The students have been working on story maps, story summaries, character trait organizers, and a paragraph about a mythological allusion (today, a "Herculean" task means a difficult or seemingly impossible task. This was taken from the myth of Heracles/Hercules). Students will be creating a poster that combines these things in class. I ask that students try to dress up in a Greek style on the day of his or her presentation. You can make this as simple (bedsheet toga) or as complicated as you like. Please, don't feel that your family needs to purchase anything for this presentation. Try to use items from around the house.

Reading 1 will present on Monday, December 15th.
Reading 2 will present on Tuesday, December 16th.

Week of November 17th

Reading (we are continuing last week's Weekly 5 to give students the opportunity to respond to literature with quality):

Reading Skill: Read your group reading book to complete book by November 21st. Finish the graphic organizer for plot.

Work on Writing: Compare yourself to the main character:  What is a similarity and a difference? Be sure to elaborate and explain why these are similarities and differences.  Write at least 10 sentences. Be sure to include a bold beginning and excellent ending.

Word Work: Vocab organizer for "oblige"

Listen to Reading: Study Island 2d:  Theme

Homework:  Eagle Eye due on Wednesday if your child's book is completed. We are almost at the mid-point, so remember:  4 Non-fiction points and 5 Fiction points!

Social Studies:  
Students will finish up their Roanoke opinion pieces by THURSDAY, November 20th. The final copies will be due then. We will begin talking about Jamestown and then the Plymouth settlement.

Common Core Revisions

State Board of Education proposes revisions to CCGPS standards in ELA, math; proposed changes posted for public comment for 60 days

I encourage you to take a look at the revisions and weigh in. There are only two ELA revisions for fourth grade but there are 12 proposed revisions to 4th grade math. View the link here.

Reminders

November 11:  Cyber Bullying Night at 6 p.m.

November 13:  Fuddrucker's Night from 4-8 p.m. (See you there around 7)

November 17:  Thanksgiving Lunch for 4B from 11:45-12:30

November 19:  4 1/2 Progress Reports go home

November 24th-28:  Thanksgiving Break!

Week of November 10, 2014

Social Studies:  We wrapped up our Explorers unit with an open book test today. We are going to begin our study of Colonial America by reading a story about the lost colony of Roanoke. Students are going to write an opinion piece in class about what they think happened at Roanoke. 

Reading:  We are connecting "Theme" or the lessons of a book as we wrap up our chapter books. Students are asked to finish their reading group chapter book by next Friday (November 21st). They will need to complete their plot organizers on that date as well. 

Here are the components to this week's Weekly 5:

Reading Skill: Read your group reading book to complete book by November 21st.

Work on Writing: Compare yourself to the main character:  What is a similarity and a difference? Be sure to elaborate and explain why these are similarities and differences.  Write at least 10 sentences. Be sure to include a bold beginning and excellent ending.

Word Work: Vocab organizer for "oblige"

Listen to Reading: Study Island 2d:  Theme

Homework:  Eagle Eye due on Wednesday if your child's book is completed. We are almost at the mid-point, so remember:  4 Non-fiction points and 5 Fiction points!

Research and Writing Mini-Bites:  We are on week 4, so that means a quiz will be coming up on Friday. You can look at old mini bites to help prepare for the quiz. 

Week of November 3rd

Math:
We are multiplying two digits by two digits.  There are a myriad of strategies we use to solve the problems.   Using the online math book for extra support is a great way to get more reinforcement at home.   The chapter 5 test will be next Tuesday.  In the meantime continue to practice multiplication facts.  Having strong fundamentals is a great way to be successful in math.

Science:
The students are learning about simple machines.   This Friday the students will take a test on both simple machines and force and motion.

Reading:
*We are continuing character perspectives in reading this week. Students are asked to take an event in the story and explain how two characters have a different perspective of the event. They are also asked to support their claims with evidence from the text.

Social Studies:
*We are wrapping up explorers this week. We will discuss examples of cooperation and conflict between Native Americans and Europeans. We will complete a close reading activity and finish up the unit with an open notes/book test on Friday.

Language:
*All Explorer Journals should be completed and turned in.
*We are on week 3 of Research and Writing Mini Bites.

College Trivia

1 1.    Which college has the world’s largest contiguous college campus, spanning more than 27,000 acres of woodlands, meadows and streams. There are 47 primary buildings on campus, including 15 classroom facilities and 10 residence halls?

  2.    What college did George Washington Carver attend and graduate from?

  3.    Which college mascot is the Polar Bear?

  4.   Which college began in 1910 as a teacher training college and has Falcons as its mascot?

  5.    What Jesuit Catholic college is located in Cleveland Ohio?

  6.    What University is known as the first medical research University?

A Few Reminders

*Friday is a SOAR day in specials. Please be sure that your child brings his or her tennis shoes, because they will be needed!

*Daylight Savings time ends on Sunday November, 2nd. Don't forget to "Fall Back!" This is also a great time to change the batteries on your smoke alarms!

*Also, Tuesday, November 4th is a Holiday for students and a training day for teachers. I know the kids will be THRILLED!

*The Fall Dance has been moved to February. It was a Big Shanty tradition, so I am sad to hear this. I will see you there in February, though!

*Picture Retake day will be November 6th.

Explorer Journal

Social Studies: 
I have decided to extend the deadline for the Explorer's Journal project for Gordon's homeroom to Wednesday, October 29th.

The journals of Mr. Desin's homeroom will be due on Friday, October 31st.

Reading:
We are continuing to read our fiction chapter books. This week, we are focusing on comparing perspectives of characters in our books.

Mini Bites:
We are going to work on Research and Writing Mini Bites for the 2nd 9 weeks to help us with revising and editing.

Explorer Journal

Social Studies and Language Arts: 

     

     For the past few weeks, we have been gathering information about explorers. Students are completing journal entries about an explorer they have chosen. Students are asked to write from the perspective of an explorer to complete four narrative journal entries. These will be due on Tuesday, October 28th. Please see your child's Social Studies folder to view the checklist and expectations for this project.

SS4H2.a

Describe the reasons for, obstacles to, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, and English explorations of John Cabot, Vasco Nunez Balboa, Juan Ponce de Leon, Christopher Columbus, Henry Hudson, and Jacques Cartier.

     In reading, we are reading fiction chapter books. We have been discussing setting,  character, and plot. We will continue reading these chapter books over the next few weeks and begin main idea and summarizing. I am enjoying the higher level conversations we are having while discussing these books together. 

Field Trip

We are taking a field trip to the Fire Safety Village on October 16th.  This afternoon, your child has the permission form in his or her Homework Folder.  Please sign both pages and return.  Thanks

Big Shanty Science Con

Big Shanty Sci- Con (Science Convention) is Tuesday, October 7^th @ 6:00

The science fun includes:

Ø  Hands-on STEM activities

Ø  Family Science Activities / Science Fair Displays and announcement of winners

Ø  Penny Cardboard Arcade – Bring pennies and play! The donations will help Big Shanty purchase new USA flags for the classrooms!

Hope to see you there!

Math

We have been working on basic multiplication and division last week and will continue working on that this week.  This includes rules, fact families and vocabulary.  Please help reinforce what we do in class by making sure your child studies multiplication and division facts.  Believe me, this knowledge goes a long, long way in helping students understand math.

I like old fashioned flashcards, but here are some really good sites for math;

www.studyisland.com

http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/


http://gregtangmath.com/kakooma

http://www.math-drills.com/

http://www.coolmath-games.com/

Enjoy!

Mr. Desin

Picture day is tomorrow

Birthday Planner math project is due tomorrow

Native American Diorama

Good afternoon! I have given out the information for the at-home Native American Diorama. I hope this will be a fun activity for your family! It will be due September 29th.

Also, when students return after Fall Break, they will work on a brochure about their Native American tribe in class. This project will also be due September 29th.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Math and Science

Math: This week we are studying addition and subtraction and will continue this until the break.  Our formal assessment will be next Friday and will cover all of chapter 2 from your student's math book.  Remember there is an ebook accessible online.  The log in instructions appear on a post from August.
Also next week, your child will be given a rubric for an upcoming math project.  This is a fun one to do.   The students get to plan for a birthday party and add up prices to make sure they fall within their given budget.  This cleverly integrates a bit of economics so they get more bang for their buck-so to speak.  The due date will be released next week.  No worries, no stress, they will be given plenty of time.  Okay this is getting too long for a post.

Science:  We are studying weather collecting instruments and next week your child will create an anemometer.  Don't know what that is?  Your child will tell you, just ask.


Happy Friday,
Mr. Desin

Upcoming Units

In Reading, we are going to continue reading informational texts. We will begin looking at text features in those texts (such as graphs, captions, etc.) and find some cause and effect relationships. We will be using texts about Native Americans to help us through these topics.

In Social Studies, we are working on Native Americans! In the upcoming week, look for information about an at-home Native American diorama project. Also, students will be working on gathering information in class and creating a brochure about a specific Native American tribe after learning background information about all the Native American tribes specified in the 4th grade standards (Kwakiutl, Inuit, Hopi, Pawnee, Nez Perce, and Seminole). While gathering this background information, students will be documenting information on a Native American chart (this should be found in your child's Social Studies folder) and plotting tribe locations on a map. This is such a fun unit!

Updates

Your child should have a study guide for their Economics Unit in his or her Social Studies folder. Your child will basically just have to learn the vocabulary terms. I included examples, but those aren't required memorization at this point. We will be revisiting these economics concepts throughout 4^th grade history.  This test will be on September 2^nd.

I have decided to continue using Grammar Mini Bites instead of spelling for the foreseeable future. If I need to change this, I will let you know! The first Grammar Mini Bites Quiz will be on Friday, September 5th.

Synergy is up, but our administrators have asked that we not input grades yet. Please check your child’s Thursday folders to make sure you are kept up to date on grades. 

Math book online access

Just in case you missed Open House, or lost the login information for the online math book, here it is again:
http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/login.do
username ccsd(student id -no spaces)
password  cobbmath1

Some students are still not in the system yet.  Please check to see if you have access.

Online Gradebook for Parents (Synergy)

Parents can come to Big Shanty's front office to get their Synergy login on the following dates and times:

Wednesday August 27 7:00-8:00 am

Friday August 29 4:00-6:00 pm

Open House at 6:00

Come straight down to my room or Mrs. Gordon's.  There will be a short  PTA video followed by our presentations.  If you cannot make it, here is the PowerPoint we'll show tonight: 

Open House Powerpoint

Specials Rotation

Here is the specials rotation calendar for the year.  You can use this to know if your child needs to bring P.E. appropriate shoes and clothing for the day.

Specials Rotation

Cobb County folder

Good afternoon,

Today your child received the agenda and Cobb County folder.  In the folder is the student handbook.  Please review it, then sign the receipt paper, and return it.  Also in the folder is the clinic card.  Please sign and return this as well. 

Tomorrow and the rest of the week we’ll continue to review classroom procedures and introduction activities.

Summer Reading Logs

For your information: :)

“Please bring your Cobb County Public Library summer reading logs to school and bring them to the Media Center.” 

We are going to have a celebration for those students who participated on August 15.  I would like to have them by Friday, August 8^th if possible.

Thank  you.

Barbara Powell-Schager

Library Media Specialist

Welcome!

We were so excited to meet many of you at Sneak a Peek! It is going to be a fantastic 4th grade year!

Here are the lunch and specials schedule. Please note that we are on a 6 day specials rotation. This will be different from the schedule you are used to.

Lunch Schedule

Specials Schedule

See you on Monday!

Get ready...The first day of school is August 4th